Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday again said that the BJP would consult his party as well as Shiromani Akali Dal while declaring the NDA's prime ministerial candidate.

"When there's a decision on the prime ministerial candidate, Akali Dal and Shiv Sena will be consulted... Whatever name the BJP puts forth, we will express our decision at the right time... BJP has not yet announced (Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra) Modi. But our alliance is based on the premise of Hindutva. So we will stick to that," he said at a press conference.

Asked about Bal Thackeray's wish to see BJP leader Sushma Swaraj as a PM candidate, he said: "When my father expressed his support for Sushma Swaraj, Modi was not in the running."

He said the NDA alone would form the next government at the Centre. "Nobody can understand the pulse of the nation. It is possible that the discontent is so much that the NDA alone forms a govt at the centre."

"The Congress is bereft of a reliable face to lead the county. NDA will give more than one reliable face to run the country. There is more than one credible face in the BJP-NDA. If I take names, it would mean I am undermining those I don't name." he said, reiterating his comment from Friday, which was seen as a hint from the Shiv Sena that Narendra Modi may not be the NDA's natural choice as the PM candidate.

But Thackeray scoffed at the BJP leader Amit Shah's saying they wanted to build a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya at the earliest.

"There are more important issues than Ram Mandir. It is a Hindutva issue but the common man demands answers to everyday problems, that's more important for the next government to deal with".

He also ran down the government's Food Security Ordinance, saying it ignored the security and welfare of farmers providing the food. "This is an election tactic by the Congress. There should be a debate. What about the plight of the farmer?"

On Modi saying he was Hindu nationalist in an interview and using the analogy of the pain one feels after a puppy coming under a car's wheels to the 2002 Gujarat riots, Thackeray said: "I am a Hindutva, I say it with pride, like my father. Does not mean we don't support other religions? The debate is deviating from development agenda and drifting towards unimportant discourse on puppy and secularism."

Asked about BJP chief Rajnath Singh's comment that English was destroying Indian culture, he said: "Every language has its own importance. It is important to know English, but that doesn't mean all other languages should be marginalised. English language is important to survive in today's world".

On the Sena rooting for a massive Shivaji memorial off the coast of Mumbai, he said:

If we don't put up a Shivaji memorial, whose will we put up? Dawood's?There has to be a Shivaji memorial".

Thackeray though was miffed when he asked about Modi's apparent closeness to his cousin and MNS chief Raj Thackeray. "Please ask s good question. Why mix up Modi with others?" he said.